Utah State volleyball will host the Blue-White Scrimmage on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in its final preparation for the 2012 season, which kicks off this weekend with the Utah State Invitational. Former Aggie player and coach Annette Cottle, along with former player Denae Mohlman Pruden, will be the guest coaches Tuesday.

Cottle was a four-time AIAW All-American in volleyball from 1976-79 and was named to the Region VII all-conference team four straight years. In 1978, Cottleearned the Broderick Award as the most outstanding volleyball player in America after leading Utah State to the national championship — the school’s first-ever team national title. She also helped the Aggies capture second place in the 1979 AIAWChampionships. Cottle won a gold medal in the 1979 U.S. Sports Festival, and she was a member of the 1979 World University team that finished fifth. She also participated in basketball at Utah State. Cottle served as head volleyball coach at Utah State from 1982-84 and was inducted into the first USU Athletics Hall of Fame induction class in 1993. Cottle recently retired as manager of Ogden City Recreation.

Pruden was a four-time letterwinner from 1997-2000. She was a three-time first-team Big West all-conference selection after earning Big West Freshman of the Year honors in 1997 to go with all-freshman team accolades. She also earned two Big West Player of the Week awards during her Aggie career. Off the court, she was aGTA Academic all-district selection in 2000, as well as a three-time Academic all-Big West honoree. Pruden is the director of the Mountain West Volleyball Club in Logan.

"We're excited and honored to have Annette and Denae be our guest coaches," USU head coach Grayson DuBose said. "It's always great to have the current players meet former Aggie players and we love keeping that connection with the past, present and future of USU volleyball. We hope it's a fun event for everyone involved."

Prior to the scrimmage, the team will be holding a free Mother-Daughter skills clinic. Registration begins at 4:30 p.m., and the clinic will run from 5-6 p.m.

The clinic, which is for children under the age of 14 and adults who are at least 18, will focus on basic volleyball technique, as well as providing up-to-date information on rule changes in the collegiate game. All participants will receive a free USU volleyball T-shirt.

The Aggies will officially kick off the season by hosting the Utah State Invitational, sponsored on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 24-25, welcoming in-state foes Utah, Southern Utah and Weber State along with Portland.

Utah State volleyball tickets are available by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

Doug Hoffman is the assistant athletic director for Utah State University Athletic Media Relations.